After decades of wishful thinking and purposeful praying, the dynamic career and the many incredible achievements of Gil Hodges were finally recognized and he was subsequently elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hodges forged himself a notable career as a premier slugger and defensive stalwart for the storied Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers franchise. He had done more than enough to stake a claim in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown alongside his teammates Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Pee Wee Reese.
Gil was the last remaining notable holdout from that magical 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers team that defeated the heavily favored New York Yankees in seven games to win their first ever World Series championship.
Having staked his claim as the undisputed best defensive first baseman of his era, when Hodges retired after the 1963 season, he had hit the most home runs (370) ever by a right-handed batter and set a new National League record with 14 career grand slams.
Gil Hodges became an instant fan favorite and his love of the game, winning attitude and clubhouse leadership were always on full display. Those attributes would serve him well when he resurrected his career as a manager, culminating in 1969, when he guided a young New York Mets team to their first World Series championship.
It should have gained Hodges an instant VIP pass to Cooperstown, but instead he died suddenly three years later from a massive heart attack, never experiencing the accolades he so richly deserved.
Honestly, Sunday’s announcement was both enthusiastically welcomed but undeniably bittersweet. It was a long overdue moment that has been denied to Gil, his family, and hundreds of thousands of adoring fans for over half a century.
At a time when Major League Baseball is trying so hard to desperately reconnect with their fans, they fail so miserably in simply doing the obvious. Reasons for joy and celebration are quickly marred with an indelible stain of ignorance due to a never-ending string of ineptitude and dysfunction.
Take yesterday’s announcement, for example… Only MLB would be so dimwitted and imprudent that they would schedule a player lockout only 72 hours before recognizing their new Hall of Fame entrants.
It’s just a furtherance of their inescapable and implausible stupidity which is forever on full display to the utter dismay of baseball purists like myself.
Getting back to Gil Hodges, I must admit that I had abandoned all hope that I would ever see him enshrined. I wish I had a dollar for all those years I hoped he’d finally get his just recognition, only to be overcome with another year of sadness and disappointment.
Tom Hanks famously said, “There’s no crying in baseball,” but truth be told, when me and my father first learned that Gil had died while we were enjoying our Easter dinner, we both shed tears, me more than him.
I was just a kid and nobody I knew ever died before. I remember lying in bed and I noticed that while my walls were covered in Mets memorabilia and posters, I didn’t have anything relating to Gil Hodges and that made me feel worse.
So the next day I taped some of the newspaper clippings and pictures to my wall. I also started to gather up all the Gil Hodges baseball cards I could find for my Mets collection. That was when I actually flipped one of them around, saw his career stats, and learned what an astonishing player he truly was… A great player… A Hall of Fame player.
I never saw Gil Hodges play one single game, and yet I knew then, that he was destined for Cooperstown. The whole 1969 Miracle Mets thing should’ve just been icing on the cake.
Shame on you, baseball… Shame on you… To have denied Gil Hodges for over fifty years is disgraceful. I’m so happy he is finally in. I’m happy for his family too. But like I said, it still feels bittersweet.
